Segmenting global tourism markets: A panel club convergence approach

Abstract

This study adopts an advanced panel club convergence approach to analyzing global tourism market segmentation. We empirically examine the convergence process of Turkish global tourism source markets over the period of 2001-2015, covering 81 markets. We further employ a recently developed procedure to test for structural breaks in our data. Three groups of breakpoint homogenous countries are identified. We then examine within-group club formation and reveal a number of convergence clubs (or segments). The results show the importance of Asian source markets in the post-break periods. This study illustrates the application of structural break and club convergence analysis for segmenting global tourism markets, and generates important implications for tourism organizations to develop global marketing strategies.